BCS Schools’ Teachers win Robert Warde Chambers Mini-Grants

Brooks County—Local Brooks County School teachers in each school throughout the district took time to apply for the Robert Warde Chambers Mini-Grants. 

These grants award up to $500 and are awarded by the Community Foundation. Teachers who won this award can use the money for various classroom projects in the 2023 year. 

The following recipients for Brooks County Schools is: 

• BCHS Jamie Brown and Ella Mobley. Brown plans to use this for further resources in speech pathology and Mobley intends to use her winnings to help open a store selling snacks and items as a resource for life skills. 
• BCMS David Giddens, Lee Hadley, and Christine Hiers. Giddens intends to use his to further is reading curriculum for his reading class, Hadley intends to use hers for more books to add to her classroom library and Hiers will use these funds for the necessities to dissect frogs in science classrooms. 
• NBES Michael Mink and Kayla Toler. Mink will use hers for further resources for her students and Toler plans to use the funds to create a podcast for her 5th grade students, ELA. 
• QES Angie Tillman will use the funds for furthering resources in her Gifted Program. 
• Asha Kelly at the Early Learning Center plans to use her to create an outdoor classroom for students. 
• Bridgette Culpepper from the Board of Education also won. 

Brooks County Schools shared the good news on their Facebook page saying, “We are thankful for the opportunity extended to our Brooks County Trojans courtesy of the Robert Warde Chambers Scholarship and Public Education Fund. At the 2023 January Board of Education Meeting, eleven teachers were recognized for being selected as recipients of a teacher mini-grant to support projects that will improve the quality of the students’ educational experiences in our district! Check out the #bestOfBrooks who will soon implement new projects, resources, and resources to support academic, social, and emotional growth for our Brooks County Trojans!” 

About the Fund

According to cfsga.net (2019) “In 2009, the estate of Robert Warde Chambers had a desire to support educational initiatives for future generations in Brooks County. Vann Parrott, an attorney in Quitman and board member of the Community Foundation of South Georgia, believed that the Community Foundation would be a perfect fit to manage these funds and oversee the efforts into perpetuity. After numerous meetings with the estate, the Community Foundation was chosen to be the beneficiary of a $1 Million gift and the Robert Warde Chambers Scholarship and Public Education Fund was established.

The fund was created with the idea of supporting education in Brooks County through three programs. First, the fund provides scholarships to deserving graduating seniors of Brooks County High School. Second, teachers in the Brooks County School System are provided an opportunity for continuing education scholarships to promote their continued professional development.

Finally, a public education fund was created with the purpose of supporting teacher projects that will improve the quality of the students’ educational experience. In its first seven years, the fund provided over $370,000 in scholarships to deserving students and teachers in Brooks County and has funded over 60 separate teacher projects in the classroom.

The Community Foundation is excited to have this opportunity to promote educational excellence in Brooks County. The Robert Warde Chambers Scholarship and Public Education Fund will be a catalyst for both students and teachers to reach their highest potential and will play an active role in transforming their community through education.”

The Community Foundation of South Georgia is located in Thomasville, GA and serves individuals, families, and businesses in creating funds to match philanthropic interests in charitable giving.



Congratulations to the winning teachers of Brooks County!